The government of India has shifted the import of gold jewellery studded with pearls, diamonds, and precious & semi-precious stones from “free” to the ‘restricted’ category. However, countries under the India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will not be affected by the change in policy. The import of these specific items would require a licence.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notified the policy change after an unusual surge was noticed recently in imports from least developed countries (LTA), such as Indonesia and Tanzania. The imports of the items, which are now restricted, showed a 30x jump from $52 million during 2022–2023 to $1,551 million in 2023–2024.
The largest source of imports for the gold jewellery parts have been from the UAE ($1 billion), Indonesia (341.9 million), Tanzania (107.2 million), and Thailand ($35.9 million).
The total imports under the “restricted” list, including gold studded with pearls, gold studded with diamonds, and gold studded with other precious and semi-precious stones, stood at $543.4 million in FY24.
The move benefits the UAE, India’s longstanding trade partner, considerably. Under the free trade agreement (FTA), the UAE, continuing to export under the “Free” category, will have an advantage over other countries. The UAE has entered into a free trade agreement (FTA) with India since May 2022.
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